Red's Café
by JFishy
Summary: "You hate that feeling to be trapped to something, or even to someone. But this job is different. This girl is different." Vauseman/Pipex AU. I don't own any of the characters or the show. Rated M for language and possible smut.
1. Coffee

**A/N: Hey guys, it's me again! So, I kind that always wanted to give a try for a Vauseman multichapter, and here we are. Yeah, I've got nothing to say, so enjoy! And I don't own the characters or the show. Sorry for spelling mistakes.**

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Get the fuck out of here!" He yelled, throwing a pen at you. You roll your eyes while walking outside the restaurant, picking a cigarette from your pocket. "If I _ever _see you again, you're going to get it, Vause!" You stop for a second. You consider getting back there just to throw a punch at the asshole face. But it wouldn't be worth it, so you walk away. He'd already gotten much worse anyway.

You didn't even like that job anyway. It made you feel trapped. And you just _hated _being trapped to anything. Okay, maybe fucking your boss' daughter at the warehouse wasn't the best way to quit your job, but you've got to say, that fucker deserved it. He was a jerk to you since the very beginning. He was just _asking _for it.

But still, _maybe _it wasn't time to quit your job. It was shitty and stuff, but you needed the money. The rent wasn't going to pay itself. Your mom wasn't exactly young anymore, so that meant you needed to help. It wasn't healthy at all for her to keep working at four jobs. You can't remember the last time she had some decent time to herself. You sigh. It definitely wasn't the best idea to quit the job. Maybe you should apologize. No, terrible idea. It wouldn't work. You needed to get a new job.

You get home in a few minutes. It's not much, it's barely decent. But it's all you two can afford for. It has one dorm, a small kitchen along with a living room and a bathroom. Your mom used to sleep in the living room, but you just felt way too guilty to let her keep going with it. She was the one who worked the hardest, so it didn't make sense that you were the one with the nice bed.

The bathroom is incredibly small. If you were fat, you definitely wouldn't manage to get inside it. It had an ugly color that both you and your mom hated. You can't help but grimace at it every time you get in.

You stare at your own reflection. Your hair looked messy and needed to be cut; you needed a new pair of glasses, since your eye wasn't helping at all and the medication to make it work wasn't working. You never thought about yourself as a beautiful girl. You actually looked much more scaring than beautiful. The scar you had on your cheek _did _help, though. And the freckles. They were very light, but you could still see them. You _hated _these bitches. The only thing you actually liked about you was the color of your eyes. It was the same as your mom's.

You looked a lot like her. But you thought she was prettier. She was hotter. And plus, she was definitely a better person. She raised you on her own, and gods, your mom deserved better just for being able to deal with you. Even with your anger issues, and your health issues as well, she managed to make you a decent person at least. And you knew she gave everything she had to take care of you. She loved you. And you loved your mom.

At a certain point, you get tired of being at home. So you get on your feet and get out of your stupid apartment, heading down to a café down street. You've never been there before, actually. Not since you were a little kid, at least. You were always way too busy anyways. But it was a nice place. Quiet, not too crowded. You liked its atmosphere.

So you walk in quietly, sitting on the balcony. It hasn't changed a little bit. The same wooden tables with the white tablecloth, the same colorful chairs that seemed to light up the ambient. You even recognized a few frameworks hanging on the red wall. It was cozy; just like you reminded, just like you needed it to be.

"Hi, what can I get you?" A shorthaired brunette with a bright smile upon her face asked. You try your best to be nice to the girl. After all, it isn't her fault. You ask for a coffee, but your voice sounds kind of rude. You consider apologizing, but she smiles it off. "Rough day, eh? You don't look good."

"I got fired." You mumble, feeling your eyes drop. You notice she wears an incredibly red lipstick, almost the same color of the wall.

"Oh, I'm sorry for that." She says, handing you a cup of coffee. "My Christopher is also unemployed. He's been trying to find a job for a while now. Poor thing, but things will get better once we get married." She looks bubbly and has dreamy eyes. You look at her tag, trying to read her name while she babbled about her fiancé. _L. Morello. _"We're getting married soon. He's such a sweetheart; I bet you'd like him." She smiles happily at you, and then looks back. "Sorry, I have to go. Duty calls!" You nod, smiling slightly. She seemed nice.

As soon as she leaves, you feel sad again. Your mom would be disappointed, but she wouldn't let it show. She'd try to cheer you up, but you would only feel worse. Sighing, you pick a novel from your purse. It's not the most exciting story ever, but it's something. You've always liked to read. Books never judged you, so it made then better friends than your classmates. You grimace at the unfriendly memory of the girls who managed to spend the entire time at school nagging at you. You never had a good friend, actually. You've never had nice shoes or "cool" clothes. And apparently, being a straight A student didn't help you to make new friends. So, you spent most of your time with your books. Sometimes, especially at lunch, you'd lock yourself in the bathroom so you could read in peace. And eat in peace too. Kids can be cruel sometimes.

Just when the book was starting to get interesting, you feel something scalding falling on your bare skin. You hiss, jumping from your seat and trying to wipe the coffee away.

"I-I'm s-sorry!" A girl stutters, emerging from behind the balcony. The first thing you notice is the color of her eyes. Big, blue, naïve, and… scared. Then, you notice the light freckles and the short, blonde hair. Her mouth is opened, forming an "O", and for a moment you feel bad for having scared her. "I-I'm such a klutz! Fuck, did I hurt you? I-I mean, the coffee didn't burn you, right?" You smile at her concern and accept the wet towel she was handing to you.

"I'm fine, don't worry. You just – _surprised _me." You explain, cleaning your arms and your clothes. You take a look at the book, happy it didn't get wet. "You don't have to be so scared. It's not like I'm going to bite you or something, kid." She sighs, smiling a bit. She takes a step closer, helping you clean the mess on the balcony.

"I'm sorry. It's just that it's my first week. I really need this job." She tells, and you feel your smile falter.

"Well, good for you." You mumble. She frowns, and you feel like you may have sounded a bit too rude. Again. Fuck, that might be another reason why you never had friends. "Sorry. It's just that I got fired today. I'm not in the greatest of my moods."

"Rough day?" She asks. You nod, looking for her tag. _P. Chapman. _Yeah, apparently no one used first names here. "Sorry to hear that. My day wasn't exactly easy too. Nichols over there," she pointed to a girl whose hair seemed to not have seen a brush in forever. ", thought it would be _funny _to watch me trying to fix one of our broken lamps. I almost died electrocuted." You laugh, your smile reappearing. "It's a nice book you have over there. I mean, the beginning is a little boring, but I liked it."

"I'm continuing it then." You answer with a wink. "And don't play with electricity, kid. Wouldn't want you to get hurt." She blushes, but her smile doesn't falter.

"It's Piper."

"Huh?"

"Piper Chapman." She offers her hand, which you take after a second.

"Alex Vause." You answer. "Nice to meet you, k – Piper." She laughs, shaking her head. "Can I have some more coffee? Mine kind of disappeared."

"I'll have someone to bring it for you." She says, pulling her hair back. You can't wipe the smile out of your face. She's just too cute. "Well, see you around, Miss Vause?"

"Probably." You smirk, slowly dragging your eyes back to your book. She leaves, and you feel the urge to tell her to stay. To keep you company. You liked her; she made you feel a little bit better.

Your coffee arrives soon, along with the girl named Nichols. She smirks at you and slides a plate with a piece of apple pie on it. You look at it, and then at her, confused. "I didn't order that." You say, pointing to the pie. The girl shrugs, and you feel a bit annoyed. "Seriously, that's not mine."

"Yes, it is." She smirks again, only making you even more confused. "Blondie said you were having a bad day, so she sent this to you. I'd tell you about her babbling about how nice it would be to cheer your day up, but honestly, I kind that turn my ears off when she starts being all sentimental. The girl can be fucking annoying sometimes." You look to the kitchen staff, and soon enough you land your eyes at Piper. She smiles shyly at you and you smile back, winking at her. "She's nice sometimes, though." Nichols mumbles, staring at her phone screen. "Whatever. Enjoy your pie, girl."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Your mom gets home at 9 p.m. You're already waiting for her, sitting on the couch with your legs crossed. You made dinner, but you ate alone. It's rare when the two of you share a meal together. Not even on the weekends, since she also works on Saturdays. You kind of used to too, but that's not the point.

She smiles at you. She looked so tired and at the same time so happy to see you. Guilt is already showing up on your eyes, so you try to avoid looking at her. But it's too late. She'd already seen you; there was no way you could trick her right now. "Hi mom." You say, faking a smile. She sits by your side, placing a hand on your knee.

"Are you okay? You look down." You want to laugh of it, since she's probably the tenth person to tell you that. "What happened, baby?"

"I got fired." You mumble, incapable to look her in her eyes. Her hand presses your knee a little tighter, so you put your hand on top of hers.

"Oh." She manages to say, and you can tell she's trying to keep her voice still. "Well, it's these fuckers' loss. We'll find you something better, babe. You deserve better than that anyway." She tries to sound confident, but you know she's worried. Your salary wasn't much; but it definitely made a difference. "I'm starving. Have you eaten?" She asks, getting on her feet.

"Uh, yeah. I made some food; it's on the oven." She nods and walks out quietly. You sigh heavily, removing your glasses. Your head was pounding; all you wanted was to get a decent night of sleep. But you waited. You waited until your mom finished dinner; you heard about her day, you helped her wash the dishes. That was just the way things were for you two. It never changed, not even a bit. And after this routine, she'd say goodnight, and you were free to go to bed.

"Fucking asshole." You mumbled, reminding yourself of your ex-boss. You crash on the couch, closing your eyes almost as soon as you lied on it. And, surprisingly, you had good dreams. You dreamed with the sky, with the sea. You dreamed with blue.


	2. A Brand New Job

**A/N: Glad you guys are enjoying it so far. Thank you all for the reviews**

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

The past week hasn't exactly been great. You're still trying to find a job, but no one else seems to be in need of any extra help. So your day basically consists on walking around the city with your curriculum in hands, leaving it at as many places as you can. So far, no one called, and you start to feel a bit nervous. Being honest, you're having trouble with sleep. The last time you felt this way was when you met your stupid father. You had to sleep at that shitty place all by yourself, and you spent nights awake after that. That asshole just terrified you.

For the first time after a week, you go back to the café. You needed it. It would make you feel better, as it did at the first time. You are not sure if that's because there were people who at least seemed to actually care about you or if it was because of the friendly reminder of the few times you had a nice time on your childhood. It's kind of embarrassing to say that your mom was at all of these happy memories.

When you walk in, the smell of coffee hit you right in the face. You walk to the balcony once again, sitting at the very same spot that you sat the last time you came. Your eyes scan the ambient, only stopping when they meet a pair of blue, naïve eyes. Your lips curl into a smirk as you see the blonde woman blushing heavily. She smiles back, approaching nervously. "So, you decided to show up, Miss Vause?" She tries to joke, but you can tell she's nervous by her voice. "I was starting to think you wouldn't come again."

"Sweet you remember my name, kid, but Miss Vause is my mom." You joke, smiling widely at her. "It's Alex. And I thought about coming earlier, but I was out looking for a job." You lift a folder containing all of your remaining curriculums. "Did you miss me?" She laughs, crossing her arms. "I'll take this as a yes."

"Believe whatever you want. And it's Piper." You roll your eyes. She was still a kid anyway. "What can I get to you?"

"Coffee. And the same piece of pie _someone _sent to me the last time I came here. I don't know if you recall." She blushes, and it makes you satisfied. You smile crookedly, tapping your fingers on the balcony while she was gone. Shortly after, she came back with your coffee and a piece of pie, but definitely wasn't the one you had last week. "Okay, I'll assume you forgot. You bought me a slice of apple pie last week, kid. Definitely not this one."

"I know. I remember." She shrugs, like she's trying to look like it's not a big deal. It's kind of cute, actually, but you still want to laugh. "I thought you might want to try this one. It's kind of a new flavor." She bits her lower lip, looking anxiously at you. You quirk a brow but says nothing, taking a bit of the pie. And it's surprisingly good. It's sweet, but not too sweet. You close your eyes, letting out a pleasured moan. "Did you like it?"

"It's fucking great." You say, stuffing your mouth with more of it. Not very lady-like, you know, but she sighs in relief, as if your approval was what mattered the most to her. "Damn, are you going to keep surprising me like this, kid? Because then I'll seriously consider coming back every day from now on."

"I'm glad you liked it." She says, leaning on the balcony. "Sorry, let me just –" she reaches out for your face, running her thumb through your cheek. You close your eyes, enjoying the feeling of her touch on your skin, standing really close from your lips. "You had something in there." She mumbles, blush coming back to her face. "I-I should go back to the kitchen. I, uh – yeah. 'Till tomorrow?"

"Sure." You grin, watching as she goes. Your mom would like her.

"You actually came back." The Nichols girl, the one with the messy hair, says, coming into your direction. She unplugged her earphones and placed it around her neck. The music was so loud you could hear some rock band playing. "You made blondie sad by taking so long."

"Did I?" You smirk, taking a sip from your coffee. "Sorry. I'll make sure I schedule my job interviews for earlier; maybe I can spend more time here then."

"You are looking for a job?" She asked, and you nod. "Didn't get anything, huh? I'll tell you what; we kind of in need for more people for the balcony." You frown. The place didn't have any client but you. "Well, actually to clean the tables and stuff. This shit is pretty dead most of the time. Morello and I are the only ones to clean this whole shit, so…"

"What about Piper?" You question, glancing at the kitchen door.

"Who?"

"Pip – Chapman." You answer. You forgot they didn't use first names in here. "Isn't she working on the balcony too?"

"Oh, blondie." Nichols smirks, leaning on the balcony. "Actually, she was just giving us a little help here. She works at the kitchen, as a baker."

"A baker?"

"Yeah, you know, that person who –"

"I know what a baker is." You roll your eyes. "I just – she's like what, twelve? I didn't know you allowed kids to play with fire."

"Well, you seemed quite fond on her." She smirks, and you feel heat coming through your neck up to your face. "You don't have a thing for kids, right? 'Cause that's going to be a problem." You shake your head and place your cool hands on your cheeks, trying to mask the red from her face. "Cool. So, are you in or what?"

"Wait, are you serious?" You ask, surprised. It's not every day people go hiring random people who they've just met. "Uh, yeah. I'm in. W-when do I start?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

You are there on the next day. You didn't have an opportunity to tell your mom about the new job, since she was at work, but you would as soon as you two met. She'd be relieved. As far as she's concerned, you could have ended up accepting the job that Fahri guy offered you. And honestly, you almost did. You and your mom were so screwed that when a stranger appeared and offered you a job as a drug dealer you almost got it. _Almost. _You told your mom before you accepted it, and she threatened to toss you on the street in the middle of the winter with nothing but your underwear on. Drugs weren't her thing. Drugs couldn't get into that house.

"Hey kid." You greet the blonde woman. She turns around, her eyes widening in surprise and her mouth forming an "O". Just like the first time you two met. "Sorry. Did I startle you?" You give her a crooked smile, which only makes her blush further. "Okay, so no talking today? I can deal with that."

"S-sorry." Piper quickly stutters, only making your smile grow bigger. It was fun to see her like that. "You didn't startle me. I'm all good. So, uh, what can I get you today?"

"As much as I'd love to eat one of your pies, I'm here to work." She frowns, tilting her head. "Nichols told me I should come and talk to Red. She's like the, uh, boss or something?"

"She owns the establishment." She answers you. It kind that make sense. The café was named "Red's Café". Not much creative, you've got to say. "Since when are you a new employer in here? I mean, what exactly did I miss yesterday?"

"Weren't you paying attention when I said I was looking for a job? I'm kind of disappointed." She huffs, crossing her arms. "Oh, come on. I'm just kidding. Don't get pissed, you're not cute when you're pissed." Bingo. Her face is as red as a tomato again. "Nichols offered me a job yesterday. Unlikely _someone, _she actually paid attention to me."

"I _was _paying attention." She hisses. "I'm just – never mind. Come, I'll take you to Red." She grabs your wrist, pulling you to a door that said _only staff allowed_. She stops in front of it and take a look at you. Then, she runs her fingers through your hair, pulling your dark strands away from your eyes. She straightens your shirt and adjust your glasses, and for a moment, she remembers you of some parents on their sons' first day of school. Not your mom, of course. Your mom wouldn't embarrass you like that. "Okay, I think you're good."

"Thanks, mom." You mumble, and she laughs at it. "Was I looking that bad?"

"No. Not _that _bad." She teases, making you smile. Good luck." She knocks on the door, opening it and looking inside. "Red? The girl that Nichols –"

"Tell her to get in." You hear a woman say behind the door. Piper looks at you for a second before opening the door and letting you in. "Are you Vause?"

The woman is not very tall compared to you. But you are very tall, so no comments about that. Her hair is red (duh) and short. She's pale skin and a strong Russian accent. She's exactly the kind of person who'd make people cross the street if ever meet her by chance. But she didn't fright you. In fact, she only encouraged you to take a step closer. And by the way she quirked a brow, she had liked that. "Yes. Alex Vause. Nichols told me I should come."

"Do you have any experience on serving customers, cleaning or at dealing with animals?" You quirk a brow, but nod. "_Which _one of the above, kid? Don't waste my time."

"Cleaning and serving customers. Why would I need to deal with animals?" You question. She smiles, actually laughs. You're not so sure if that's a good sign.

"No worries, no rats in here. By animals, I mean people in general. And some of the inspectors you'll meet soon." She answers, getting on her feet and walking straight to you. "I'm Red. I own the place. You follow my rules or you are out. Clear?" You nod, but don't quit staring at her eyes. By some stupid reason (which actually got you fired from a job or two), you've always needed to show you're not easy to scare, that you're tough. And thinking about it now, that's probably the kind of thing that almost made you turn into a drug dealer. "You have to be here on time, no exceptions. When you are at work, you'll have to wear your uniform, and at least look presentable. And no drugs are allowed in here. Any objections?" You shake your head, earning a slight smile. "Good. Then you can start already. I'll have someone taking your uniform."

You get out of there relieved. You smile, _actually _smile for no reason apparently. Your mom would be proud. You sit on one of the empty tables, waiting for one of the girls to show up with your uniform.

"So, how did it go?"

You turn around, meeting the blue eyes once again. Piper approaches you, sitting on the chair by your side. She offers you another piece of pie. "Fine." You tell her, smiling softly. "I'm going to be your new mate, kid. Or kind of that." She smiles at you, sighing in relief. "Thanks."

"For what?" She questions, frowning.

"I don't know exactly. For not charging my pieces of pie. For being nice to me. For actually caring." You can't help but stare inside these sweet blue eyes. She's _really _beautiful. But you're kind of ashamed for letting your feelings shown like that, so you stare back at the table. At your pie. "Don't tell anyone I said that, trough. Might ruin my badass reputation."

"Can't you be serious at least once?" She smacks your arm playfully. "Try it on." She says, pointing to your pie. You smirk, but cut a piece of it. And it's fucking amazing. No surprise.

"Did you make this?" You ask, moaning in delight. "Kid, these are fucking _great._ Is this new?" She nods, smiling shyly at the compliment. "Oh, great. Whenever you need a guinea pig, you can call me." She rolls her eyes, and that Nichols kid shows up with a bag, throwing it to you. She smiles, putting her earphones back on.

"Welcome on board, Vause."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Your mom arrives home at almost midnight. You were asleep on the couch, but you woke up as soon as she got in. You didn't get up, trough. You waited until she ate her dinner quietly in the kitchen, then left the dishes on the sink and came to see if you were okay. She always checked up on you. She pulled your blankets and leaned to kiss you goodnight when you opened your eyes. "Mom."

"Hey baby." She greets you. "What are you doing awake? It's fucking late." You smile, sitting on the couch.

"I got a new job." You tell her. She smiles, a huge smile. "It's at a café down the street. I started today."

"That's great, kiddo." She says softly. "How was your first day?"

"Nice. Except for the asshole who smacked my ass when I was passing by. But it's quite alright. Nichols smacked his face. Apparently, we are allowed to do that." Your mom laughs, and it makes you smile. "How was your day?"

"Not nearly as fun as yours, baby." She kisses the top of your head, getting on her feet. "It's late, Al. You should sleep; I don't want you getting late on your job tomorrow." You nod, getting under your covers once again. She made sure you were okay, and you felt like a child again. You loved that feeling. "Goodnight, baby."

"Night, mom."


	3. Friends

The thing about the café is that it isn't nearly as empty as you thought it was. At least not in the morning. There weren't tables enough to serve the customers, and some people were starting to really piss you off. These were the so called "animals", as Red and Nichols said to you. You barely had time to stop and breathe, actually. You ran from table to table, taking notes of all the orders and quickly taking them to the kitchen. But you actually liked the job. It didn't make you bored, and you actually had fun kicking some animals' asses. There wasn't any other place where you were actually allowed to do that.

It's only by midday when things start to slow down. The last customers are leaving, and you managed to clean the tables and the balcony. You and Morello don't talk much, and the few words you two exchange always end up being directed by her Christopher, and how perfect he is, and how great things will be when the two of them get married. You honestly want to shoot yourself whenever she starts to talk about him. But Nichols is different. She's a bit too much like you, you have to admit. Only she looks a bit crazier.

Nicky Nichols listen to rock bands all day, and customers don't mess with her. It takes only a look for them to get their shit together. You admire that. She talks about the most absurd things ever, and even talks naturally about lesbian sex. And girls' parts. You like that talk either. She messes with the other girls, even with Red, but they all take it easy. No one actually gets offended by her, because the girl can't keep a normal and serious conversation with anyone. Again, a bit too much like you.

"Just saying." She starts, chewing her sandwich at lunch time. "I've been technically dead almost twice. I've been with god, and I gotta say, dude fucking loves me." You laugh, almost tossing your own lunch out. "Fucking drugs. Almost screwed up with my heart. Thank god I found Mama." She pointed with her chin to the kitchen. "She made me put my shit together."

"Is she really your mom?" You ask, and she rolls her eyes.

"I was starting to like you, Vause. Don't tell me you are as innocent as Barbie over there." She points to Piper, who was finishing something which smelled good in the kitchen. "Nah, not my real mom. My real mom is a bitch. Red kinda adopted me." You nod, biting your own sandwich. "Your turn, Vause. What's interesting about you? Like, how did you get that thing on your cheek?" You automatically run your finger trough the scar on your skin. It wasn't something you were actually comfortable with.

"I kind that –"

"Hey."

You look up, smiling at the blue eyes. Nicky smirks, pulling a strand of her messy hair behind her ear. "Hey blondie. Lunch break?" She nods, lifting a bag and a bottle of juice. "Well, great, 'cause I was just about to go back to service. Keep Vause some company, kay?"

"But you barely ate your sandwich." Piper points out, and you stiff a laugh. "Do I bother you?"

"Sometimes yes, but not now." Nichols quickly got on her feet, waving you goodbye. "This thing is just shitty. Don't wanna eat that. Bye kids."

She leaves, and Piper takes her seat. Quietly, she starts to unwrap her own sandwich, chewing quietly. "I honestly didn't think this place would be so fucking crowded. I mean, when I came here, it was pretty dead."

"It cleans a bit in the afternoon, but people come back at night. You got the night shift too?" You nod, and she grins. "Cool. Me too. I think it's Nichols' turn tonight. You guys seem to be getting along well." She says, and you shrug. You tried to seem like you didn't really care, but the truth is that you did. Nicky is probably the first friend _friend _you've made in years that is not a girl who you want to fuck. Besides your mom, of course. And that sounds kind of embarrassing to admit out loud. "How was it for the second day?"

"Crowded, but I like it. Keeps me entertained." You answer, dragging your eyes back to hers. "How is your day going? I mean, how is the baking stuff going?"

"Oh, it's going great." Her face seems to lighten up when you ask about her job. You liked that. "I mean, Red and Ms. Claudette are letting me create new desserts and they actually _liked _it. Ms. Claudette had never let me try new things before, in fact, the only thing she'd let me do was wash the dishes, and _occasionally _cut some slices of fruits, but now – sorry, I-I know it's kind of boring."

"Don't apologize." You say, offering her a smile. "I want to hear it. Your face lightens up when you talk about it. It's cute." She blushes heavily, avoiding your eyes.

"Do you find joy on embarrassing me?" She asks playfully, pushing you lightly.

"No, I mean it." You laugh. "It's… sweet. I like when people talk about what makes them happy. It's not boring at all." She smiles shyly, looking at her feet. Goddam, she's beautiful. "I just – I never understood why people apologize when they talk about something they actually like. If you think it's nice why would you keep saying 'I know it's boring'?"

"Maybe because they were told by other people that it's boring. People start to believe when they hear it too much." She answers slowly. "That's kind of sad."

"It is." You agree. She's still looking at her feet, seeming to avoid your eyes. You wonder who ever told her she's boring. "Hey," you touch her hand, making her look at you. "I know I can be a bitch sometimes, or kind of – well, kind of me, actually. But I don't think you're boring at all. And I think your work here is amazing, you _are _talented, Pipes." She studies your eyes for a moment, like if she's deciding if you're telling the truth. Then, she turns her hand on the table, linking your fingers.

"Thanks." She mumbles with a small smile. Just a second after that, her eyes widened and she jumped from her chair. "_Fuck."_ She hisses, and you smirk.

"I don't think we've time for that." You joke, but you barely manages to finish your sentence before she pulls you straight to the room you and Red spoke yesterday, locking it behind you. "Well, okay. I guess we can have a quick one."

"Shut up." She covers your mouth with her hand, standing on her tiptoes and looking at the small window that was on the door. "_Fuck. _So it _can _get worse than it already is." She runs her fingers through her hair, sighing. You get closer to her, looking to the other side of the door. A black haired man with a big nose was standing on the doorway, looking around the café as if he were kind of lost. Or maybe looking for someone. "Okay, it's no big deal. I can deal with that. Shit, I can't. Goddammit, why _me_?" She muttered to herself, only making you more and more confused.

"Okay, I don't really get what's going on here. Who's the guy?" You ask, pointing at him. She looks at you surprised, as if for a moment she forgot you were still there. "Ex-boyfriend?" You guess, but she shakes her head, muffing a groan.

"Ex-_fiancé._" She corrects you. Your eyes go wide and you take a better look at him. No, it couldn't be. "_Jesus. _How do I get out of here?"

"You have an ex-fiancé?!" You half-whisper half-yells. "How come I didn't know 'bout it?"

"I've known you for barely a week!" She hisses. "What did you expect? For me to share my whole fucking life with you?" Touché. She _did _have a point. And a very good one, by the way. "Crap. Why can't he just – I'm going to need your help, for fuck's sake. You just – can you dismiss him? I don't know, tell him whatever you want to. Just make him go away. _Please._" You couldn't say no. So you nod, making your way to the front.

"You need any help?" You ask the guy. He looks at you and then looks around him, as if he needed to make sure it was with him you were talking to. It makes you roll your eyes. What an idiot.

"I, uh, is Piper Chapman here today?" He asks you. He's really weird. He's about your height, and he's a look of pure innocence in his eyes. But it's different from Piper's. You just don't like him. "I'm Larry. Could you call her for me? Please?"

"She's not here today. I'm not sure if she'll be here tomorrow. Red gave her a few days off." You lie, still staring into his eyes. There's something really weird about his appearance. You think that maybe it's the shape of his head or something else. But you don't really care. You just focus on making him leave. "Can I help you with something else?"

"No. Thanks, just, uh, tell her I've been here, okay? Thanks." He mumbles, turning his back and exiting the café. You roll your eyes once again. Nicky is on the counter, smirking at you. You ignore her and walk back to the room, opening the door and pulling Piper out of it.

"Thanks." She breathes, squeezing your arm. "He's been coming after me for a few weeks. It's really starting to bother me. Like, what's wrong with him? I made it very clear that we were done."

"Sorry, I'm still trying to deal with the fact that he was your fiancé. Too many news for me." She rolls her eyes, crossing her arms. "What? Sorry, you just don't seem like the type of girl who would break an engagement. Unless the guy was an asshole, which if I may say, he seemed to be."

"He's not an asshole." She says. "He's sweet. Just not the right guy for me." She shrugs. "And what do you mean I don't seem like the type of girl who would break an engagement? What do you think I am, a retarded?"

"No, I didn't mean that. Jesus, calm down kid." You raise your hands, as if you were surrendering. "I meant you look too sweet to break someone's heart. But I'm not judging; I barely know you anyway. Or him. Sorry for that."

"You think I'm a horrible person."

"That's not what I –"

"Okay, enough you two!" Nichols interrupts. "Man, you are grinding my gears. Go get a room or something." Piper's face gets red, and so does yours. Incredible. "Hey Vause, come help me here. You're probably better with numbers than I am. Blondie, Ms. Claudette needs you in the kitchen." You take a last look at her, as she slowly lets go of your arm. "You look like a couple." Nichols mocks once you get on the counter, starting to help her clean the mess some customers had made.

"Not my thing." You murmur. And it was the truth. You've never liked being trapped to something or someone. Not even to your mom, and she was the human being you loved the most on Earth.

"You don't do dating, eh? That's quite alright. If I were you, I wouldn't mess around with her anyway." She says, and you frown. "Well, you know, ex-fiancé… straight girls are out of our league. It's the rule number one: never _ever _date straight girls." You quirk a brow, looking back at her.

"And what's rule number two?"

"Haven't thought about this one yet." She holds your glare, trying to remain still. And then, you both laugh. "I'm serious." She manages to say between her laughter. Fuck, you don't even know why you're laughing about it. "Straight girls are problem."

"That they are." You agree. You look to the kitchen, and you meet a pair of blue eyes staring at you. As soon as you see her, she looks away, and it makes you smile. How subtle.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

It's almost 10 p.m., which means it's almost the end of your shift. You hadn't truly understood why in hell a café would be opened until that late, but now you got it. It was as crowded as it was in the morning. You just couldn't get these people. Who the hell drinks coffee at 9 p.m.? Well, whatever the answer was, Red was right about keeping it opened until that late. It worked out quite well.

You sit on one of the tables, pulling your old phone out. You texted your mom, telling her you were okay and that you'd soon be home. Another good thing about working at the café was that it was really close from your place, so it meant you wouldn't have to worry too much about going home so late. This job was definitely the best thing that had ever happened to you.

"Hey." Piper calls behind you. "Can I sit here?"

"Sure, kid." You nod, putting your phone back on your pocket. "Ready to go home?"

"Almost." She answers with a sigh. "We're finishing cleaning up at the kitchen. Are you good to go?"

"No, waiting for Nichols." You point to the girl, who's weirdly dancing as she finishes to stuck her belongings into her backpack. "Do you live close from here?"

"Yeah, a few blocks away." She answers. "Look, about early today –"

"None of my business, kid. Don't worry; I'm not judging you or your fiancé." You answer, and she rolls her eyes.

"_Ex-fiancé_." She corrects you, and you want to laugh of her frustrated face. "Get that smirk out of your face; I'm trying to be serious. Look, I was kind of rude –"

"You were kind of rude right now too."

" – but I didn't mean to. Sorry, he just – it makes me nervous when he comes here every single fucking week after me. I was – I didn't mean to be mean." You smile, squeezing her hand. "I felt a little bit bad for it. I honestly thought you'd be upset with me."

"I've heard worse, kid. Don't worry." You assure her. You wouldn't tell her or anyone, but it felt nice to know she was worried with it, even though she had only known you for a week. It made you feel a little bit special. "We're good, kay? I should get going, Nichols is finally ready." You say and she nods, smiling at you. "I'll see you tomorrow. And Pipes?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't think you're a horrible person. Not at all." You don't know why you told her that. You just felt like it was the right thing to do. And judging by the way she eased her shoulders, it was. "Night."

"Night, Alex."

You make your way to the door, ignoring the way Nicky smirked at you. "Hey Vause, careful. You're letting your soft side come out." You push her, adjusting your backpack. "Just when I was starting to like you."

You don't know why, but that makes you happy. You were developing a _real _friendship, and that was some news for you. It made you feel like you were finally part of something. Like you had a meaning and a reason to go on. "Shut up, Nichols." You laugh. "You're letting your straight side shown." She laughs at it, and it makes you feel warmer. _Comfortable._

And that felt just nice.


	4. Drinking Night

You have been working at the café for two weeks now, and it couldn't have been any better. You had to work on Saturdays too, and sometimes you had to cover one of the girl's night shifts, but you didn't mind at all. First, because Red actually paid you for doing extra. Second, because you enjoyed being there. Even when Nichols wasn't there it was nice. You made a few friends, like Morello and Mendoza, and even though Nicky was still the person who seemed to understand and who liked you the most, you enjoyed being around them too. And of course, there was Piper.

You hate that feeling to be trapped to something, or even to someone. But this job is different. This girl is different. She checks on you whenever she cans, and she brings you food whenever she makes something new. She always asks for your opinion, like it's the one which matters the most to her. You like that. You like her. But that doesn't change the fact that you are still too scared to let her in. Even though she and Nicky have been closer than anyone but your mom have gotten to you. But you still are not ready to try something else. You just don't want to mess things up.

"We're still going out tonight, right?" You look up, meeting Nichols eyes. "Man, _everyone _is going. You can't say no." You smile, turning around to face your friend better. A blonde kid is shyly staring at you, but she looks down as soon as you notice her gaze. Red had decided that hiring only you wasn't enough, so she also hired her two days later. The kid was small and skinny. You were almost sure her name was Muller. Or something like that.

"By _everyone_, you mean you and me?" You ask, quirking a brow. Nicky smiles crookedly, shaking her head. "Okay. So, who's going?"

"Taystee and Washington are coming. I invited Big Boo and mama too. Oh, and Blondie over there may come too." You look over your shoulder, meeting Piper's eyes. You two hold each other's gaze for a second, and then she smiles at you. You smile back, but immediately regrets, since Nicky was already holding that stupid smile upon her lips. "How cute. You sure you don't do dating?"

"Why, you interested?" You shot back, but she just laughs. "Okay, you won. I'm going too."

"I knew I had you when I mentioned Chapman."

"What about me?" You both jump, surprised as the curious pair of blue eyes stare at you. "Sorry. Bad time?"

"Not at all." Nicky pats your arm, smirking. "I'm going to help Miller." You frown for a second, until you remember there is a new kid. Miller, not Muller. Right. "You are still going out with us tonight, right Chap?" She nods, and Nicky's smile only grow wider. "That's just awesome. I'll see the newbie. Bye." You turn around to the blonde standing right in front of you, and you smile.

"Did you call me newbie too? Or is just a thing with that kid over there?" She chuckles lightly, taking a step closer to you.

"No. Nicky likes you, so no nicknames." She answers. "Come here." She holds on your fist, pulling you to the kitchen. She cuts a piece of a colorful cake, spooning it to you. A smile crack on your lips when she does that, but she ignores it. "Tell me what you think." She whispers, looking at you with expectant eyes.

"I don't know why you bother asking. It's always great." She grins, leaning closer to you. "You're acting really weird today. Why so? I mean, you didn't even blush when I complimented you."

"Nothing special, I'm just oddly happy today." She shrugs. "So, are you going tonight? I thought that we could share a cab if you went."

"Yeah, I guess I am. Nichols said I don't really have an option, so… yeah." You try to sound casual about it, but your voice kind that betrays you. The truth is that you are excited, and even a little bit nervous. You've never been invited to go out for drinks by anyone, except the by some girls or guys who wanted to fuck you. Or by Fahri. But you're not counting him. And you can't let it show. Alex Vause does not get nervous. You are too badass for that. Or at least to admit so. "We can share a cab. Where can we meet?"

"I was thinking we could meet here, if you don't mind. It's close to your place, right?" You nod quietly. "Cool. So, uh, I'm going to my lunch break. Want to join me?" She asks you, walking to the fridge and picking her lunch.

"Sure."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

The bar is crowded, but it's not like you didn't expect it to be. It was a Saturday night after all. A few girls and a few boys glance at you, but you ignore them. You just want to get drunk and be with your friends. You look at Piper, who's tangled her fingers around your wrist as soon as you got in front of the bar. She is, as you, looking for the rest of the girls. "I think they are – sorry." She says to a guy who she accidentally bumped into. "Okay, I see them." She announces.

"Great, because I'm not seeing any shit." You answer. "Guide me, please?"

"How blind are you?" She laughs, pulling you along with her.

"Blindish." You answer, and she giggles. When you approaches a little bit more, you can see the other girls sitting around a table, already getting shots. Nichols greets both of you with a smile. You can tell by it that she's already drunk. What a lightweight. "I thought you were stronger than that." You say, making her laugh.

"I want to see how strong _you _are, Vause. I doubt you can still stand on your feet after two shots. I'm on my fourth one!" She laughs at herself, and you laugh too. You liked drunken people; they were much more fun like that. "Don't be a pussy, Vause! Drink it up." She hands you and Piper a shot, glancing at you with a smirk. You look inside the blue eyes once more before you both take it. It burns your throat, but you like the feeling of the alcohol entering on your system. "That's my girl. Another one!"

It doesn't take you all much longer to be completely drunk, even though you were the one who was less of it. Even Red was giggling like an idiot. You'd started to exchange looks with some other girls on the other side of the bar. One of these wouldn't stop smiling like a freaking idiot at you.

"I want to dance!" Piper said at your ear. The music was way too loud, so you could barely hear her. But you didn't mind the closeness at all. "Come on, Al!"

"I don't do dancing, kid. Sorry." She giggles, leaning even closer, her arms wrapping around your waist. You gulp. Normally, you wouldn't mind at all this kind of behavior. But she wasn't anyone. She was Piper. Your friend Piper. Your friend who cared about you and enjoyed being with you. And there wasn't anything on the world that would make you want to screw that up. "Pipes, go. Taystee and Washington are already there. You don't need me."

"They are practically _fucking _on the dance floor." She growled on your ear. "Come on, Alex. Don't be such a dick." You roll your eyes but smile, getting up from your seat. "Cool! I was sick n' tired of being there."

"You're drunk." You say. It only makes her giggle even more. "You're way too drunk."

"I'm fine, mommy." She drags you to the dance floor, one of her arms still tugged to your waist. You try, you _really _try hard not to pay any attention to that, but she keeps pulling you closer and closer. And it doesn't help when she starts to dance way too close from you, her body practically rubbing against yours. She grabs your arms; she places it around her and makes you hold her close, her body glued to yours. You try to distract yourself, and you automatically thanks god for Nicky being way too drunk to see you, otherwise, you'd spend your whole Monday hearing her stupid jokes about you and Piper. "You are not dancing, Vause." She says, turning around to face you. You bite your lower lip, trying to avoid looking at _her _lips. "Are you okay, Al?" _Oh, fuck. _She wraps her arms around your neck, leaning closer. She's about to kiss you. And she almost does so, but you can't. She's drunk, and clearly out of her mind. And it would ruin your friendship. So, when she gets closer, you turn your face, giving her your cheek. Her lips are soft against it, and even though it's just your cheek, you feel like you could melt. She runs her fingers through your hair, and you can feel she's smiling against your skin. When she lets go of your neck, you look at her. She's smiling at you. "Your skin is so soft." She mutters, leaning in and resting her head on your chest. She's hugging you. In the middle of the fucking dancing floor.

"I think we should take you home." You say, avoiding her eyes. Surprisingly, she nods and allows you to pull her back to the table where you two were. "We're leaving." You tell Nicky, who only nods, way too busy flirting with other girls. You wrap an arm around Piper's waist, helping her stand still. She wraps hers around yours, and together you walk out of the club. "Pipes, you okay?" You ask, and she just nods while you call a cab. "Okay. I need you to tell me where you live."

"Around here, on an ugly gray building." She mutters, while you two enter on the cab. The driver sends you a glare, but you ignore him.

"Can't you be a little more specific?" You ask, but she doesn't answer. "Pipes? _Shit._" You groan. She was out. You give the driver your address; there's no way you would let her alone like that. That's not a thing friends do. What if she needed help?

You arrive at your place within a few minutes. You curse the building for not having an elevator, and even Piper for being almost out, so you practically had to carry her upstairs. At least she wasn't heavy. You open the door, helping her to get in and lay her on the couch. You go to the bedroom, changing your clothes to your pajamas and picking Piper a large shirt and a pair of sweatpants. You struggle a bit if you should or should not change her clothes, but you decide it would be better if you did. Slowly, you undress her, thanking god she had a bra on and avoiding to look at her body. You manage to do that successfully, and you feel happy for it. So you lay on the couch, trying to keep a safe distance from her. But she doesn't help. She turns around facing you, and she wraps an arm around your waist. Her pupils are dilated, so you can tell that she's still drunk. _Really _drunk. But it doesn't stop her from leaning in and closing the gap between you two. This time, you don't stop her. Her lips are soft, and she tastes like alcohol, but you enjoy every second of it. It's quick and it's only a peck, almost innocent, but it's enough to make your body warm. You don't know why, you truly don't understand why. It's not like you haven't kissed a girl before. But again, she was different.

She looks inside your eyes one more time before closing hers. She snuggles closer to you, and you don't push her away. You're too tired to do so. This time, you just close your eyes and allow the sleep to go on.


	5. Day Off

**A/N: Hey! I meant to post sooner, but I kind that got trapped over a few things. Sorry for that. And thank you all for the reviews:) I read each one of them, and I'm glad you're enjoying so far. **

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

You wake up with an awful headache. And with Piper sleeping on your chest. You're not so sure if the main reason for the headache is because you had one too many drinks last night or because she's there. And she kissed you. She fucking _kissed _you, and you left a drunken girl do it. No, you left your drunken _friend_ do it. It's so fucked up that it makes your head aches even more. Well, at least you didn't sleep with her. Or at least you think so.

You get up and decide it's time to make a breakfast. If you're lucky enough, she'll probably not even remember what happened last night. And honestly, if she doesn't bring the subject up, you are not one to do so. It's not like it meant something. You think so, at least. But it certainly it's not like you two stand a chance. You are only good at being friends, period. You can't just start a relationship out of nothing, out of nowhere. No, thanks. You're fine with a good friendship.

After a few minutes, your bacon and eggs are ready. You left some extra for your mom on the fridge, since she's only coming back home at nine. You make a plate for Piper too. After all, she's still a guest. A guest who would probably wake up with a major headache and completely lost. That could be fun.

"Good morning sunshine." You mock as you see Piper slowly walking to the kitchen. She's staring at you with widened blue eyes, obviously not aware of what she had done last night or where she was. Well, that was just great. "What? Are you going to tell me you don't remember anything?"

"A-Alex, what am I doing here?"

"Well, you practically begged to come home with me." You smirk, pulling a strand of your morning hair behind your ear. "And then you begged me to _fuck _you. Who knew you could be this nasty, Pipes. I had fun going down on you last night. You said I was your first, remember?" She gasps when you get closer, her arms embracing herself as if she wanted to cover, to _protect _her body from your eyes. "Well, that's what you were probably dreaming about. You were way too drunk last night, Pipes. I brought you home because I didn't want you to be alone, and because an ugly gray building around the club wasn't exactly an address." She's still looking unsure at you, which makes you smile. "Don't worry, P. Nothing happened. I wouldn't do anything, especially with a drunken girl. Come on, I made you breakfast." You point to a plate on top of the sink, as you walk back to the couch. "Does your head hurts, kid?"

"A lot." She mumbles, sitting by your side and slowly starting to chew her bacon. "You sure nothing happened last night?"

"Well, we danced together and then I decided it was time to take you home. You passed out on the cab." It's not a lie. Well, at least not _completely_ a lie. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing. I just thought – never mind." She shrugs, and you almost sigh in relief. "How come you don't look like shit?"

"Not my first hangover, baby." You chuckle, and she groans frustrated. "You don't drink much, do you?"

"No. I used to, but since I started going out with Larry I stopped." She mumbles. Right. The fucking fiancé. "I had fun last night. I guess."

"I had fun too." You answer, finishing your eggs. She sighs, leaning closer to you and resting her head on your shoulder. Just – _fuck. _"Do you want to get some more sleep?" You ask, but she shakes her head. Her nose is close from your neck, and her breath is tickling you. Without thinking, you put your arm around her, holding her close to you. She falls asleep again, and soon enough, so does you.

You wake up again only when your mom arrives home. Piper somehow was practically sitting on your lap, with her arms around your neck. You were still holding her, your chin resting atop of her head and her breath was still tickling the bare skin of your neck. You honestly had no idea how much time had passed, or how you two managed to get on that position, but you were not so sure if you wanted to find out either.

You close your eyes when you hear your mom getting closer. You knew she'd question about Piper sooner or later, but your head was still fucking pounding, so you'd rather it to be later than sooner. You held her a little bit closer, as if you wanted to protect her from whatever was around. You feel a quick kiss being pressed on the top of your head, and you sigh in relief as soon as you hear the door room closing. You try to move a little, but it only makes Piper hug your neck tighter. Well, fuck.

Suddenly, she's moving, removing her legs from your lap and straightening herself on the couch. You move too; feeling way too uncomfortable to say anything. She looks at you in silence, running her fingers through her morning hair. None of you say a word; and honestly, now it starts to feel kind of uncomfortable. "Sorry." She whispers, and that makes you smile. She's blushing again. You fucking love that.

"It's quite alright. I was tired too." You answer, getting on your feet. You need to move. "You can use the bathroom after me. I won't take long, okay?"

"Actually, I should get going." She says, and you can tell she's trying to keep her voice still. You frown, staring at her, and for a moment, you consider if she maybe knows about the kiss. But it's not likely, since she was way drunker than you, and you honestly doubted she'd even remember her own name this morning. Or yours. "It's almost 10 a.m. I should go."

"Slow down, Pipes." You smile, as she gets up. She avoids your eyes, crossing her arms and staring at her feet. "Hey. Are you okay?" You ask, getting a little bit closer to her. "Are _we _okay?" You mirror her, crossing your arms but looking at her. "Look, don't be upset with me. I'm sorry about my joke. Nothing happened, Pipes; I'd never do that to you." You stop for a moment, a smirk appearing on your lips. "At least not when you were drunk. I'd want you to remember me."

"Asshole." She slaps your arm but a small smile comes across her lips. "I'll wait for you in here." You nod, making your way to the bathroom. You take your time in there. You take a long, hot bath, which thankfully made your headache go away. After that, you brush your teeth and your hair, and stare at yourself in the mirror. You felt a little bit prettier than you've ever felt. Even though the scar still bothers you a lot, you like what you see. You can see something, _someone _better after a haircut – which would probably end up cutting your blue highlights off – and after, why not, applying some make up on. But there wasn't time for that now; Piper was waiting for you outside, and you promised you wouldn't take long.

"Bathroom is all yours." You say, gesturing towards the door. "I left you a towel and an extra tooth brush. You might want to take the taste of the alcohol mixed with bacon now." She rolls her eyes, but smiles at you. "I think my clothes will be a little bigger on you, but – yeah. I'll be here if you need me." She nods, making her way to the bathroom. As soon as she closes the door, your mom appears on the living room, glaring at you. "Hey mom." You greet her, trying to ignore the noise of the water running on the bathroom.

"Who the hell is that?" She asks. Good fucking morning for her too.

"Piper Chapman. She's a friend of mine." You answer, desperately trying to change subjects. Your mom smirks at you. Fuck, Nicky would definitely love her.

"Do you cuddle with all of your friends, Alex Vause?" She says in a mocking tone. You ignore that, trying to pay attention to whatever was on the TV. "Why is she here? You know what, never mind, I'm not so sure if I want to know. I'd like to keep sitting on this couch."

"Mom!" You growl. "She got too drunk last night. I brought her home because I didn't know where the fuck her place was!" She laughs at your frustrated tone, which only drove you even madder. Why the hell everyone mocked you when it came about Piper? You two kissed, but it's not like it meant something. She was too drunk to be aware of what she was doing. At least you thought so. "We're just friends. Nothing happened between us last night." Your voice fails a bit, and you hate yourself for that. You never liked to lie for your mom.

"Whatever you say." She gets up, making her way back to the bedroom. "I'll get some more sleep. Don't mind me you and your '_friend'_." You roll your eyes, deciding not to argue. You were tired of doing so anyway.

"I heard voices." You turn your head, your eyes meeting hers again. "Is there someone else in here?" Her hair is wet, and she's not wearing any make-up. You were right about your clothes; they were a little bit bigger on her. She's still looked hotter than ever, though.

"Yeah, my mom. She's sleeping now." She nods, taking a sit by your side. "Do you have plans for today?" Fuck. You don't even know why you asked that. You don't have plans for today, or better, you _do _have, but they consist on watching TV until it's time for you to go to bed. But she's shaking her head, so that means you probably have to say something. "Uh, do you wanna go grab some lunch? I mean, there's this place near here – or I could cook."

"You can cook?" She widened her eyes, giggling. "I doubt that. I have to see this now." You smile, feeling relieved. You didn't even know you were that nervous anyway. But heck, was this closeness really that necessary? "So, what are we having for lunch? I mean, it's a bit early, but…"

"I haven't actually thought about it. Do you like pasta?" You ask her.

"Who doesn't?" She smirks, adjusting your shirt on her body. It looked way better on her. "Can I help you with the cooking?" You nod quietly, trying to drag your eyes away from her clothes. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. She isn't any girl. She is a friend. You can't just fuck that up. You feel like a hormonal teenager around her. "Hey Al? Thanks. For letting me stay here, I mean."

"Not a problem." You answer, looking up to her. "I'm pretty sure any of the other girls would have done the same for you."

"No. Nichols would probably have left me there." She mumbles, and you laugh. "She hates me."

"No, she doesn't." You manage to say between your laughter. "She just thinks you're kind of annoying sometimes. And I got that going for her." She pouts, and it's adorable. It makes your smile grow wider, and you reach out for her hand, squeezing it. "Don't be like that. You know I'm just kidding."

"I know _you _are." She answers, glaring at you. For a second, you lose track of what she's saying. You lose yourself on these blue eyes. You stare at her lips for a second or two. You want more of it. You want more of her. "Nicky doesn't like me. I mean, every time I get around she leaves. Like I'm infectious or something." Shit. Well fucking played, Nichols.

"It's not like that. She just wants to leave us alone." She frowns, tilting her head adorably and looking confused. Just fucking awesome. "She, uh –" you gulp, running your hand through your hair. "She thinks we should hang out. Like, well, be a thing."

"Oh." She mutters. And just then, she frowns again, and a second later her eyes go wide. "_Oh._" It's all that she says. She's blushing, but this time it isn't fun. Even because you're blushing too. "Well, that was, uh – _unexpected._" You nod in agreement. You two stay in silence, and it's starting to get weird. You can't even look at her. Fucking Nichols. "Oh shit!" She curses, getting quickly on her feet. "I – sorry, I really gotta go." She looks guiltily at you. "I forgot about Cat."

"Who the hell is Katy?" Surprisingly, she smiles.

"Not _Katy. _Cat. My roomie." She answers you, and it's just making you more and more confused.

"You have a roomie. And his/her name is Cat." You repeat, but she rolls her eyes.

"Not Cat as a person." She says as it was the most obvious thing in the universe. "Cat as a cat. With all the meow and stuff cats do."

"Why didn't you just say you had a cat?" You ask, and she shakes her head.

"Because he's not _my _cat. He's just Cat. A cat that lives at my place. We don't own each other." She explains. You smirk at her, getting on your feet too.

"I'm pretty sure I heard that on a movie. Breakfast at Tiffany's?" She rolls her eyes but nods. "I knew it. Well, what about Cat?"

"I have to feed him." She answers, staring at the floor. "Sorry. I completely forgot."

"But will you come back?" You sound a little too desperate. You hate that.

"Do you _want _me to come back?" She asks, crossing her arms and staring expectantly at you. You gulp again. She's making you nervous. Fuck, you've never been like that before. _You _are the one who make girls nervous. More specifically, it's _you _who should be making _her _nervous.

"Yes." You say, trying to sound confident, but your voice gets lower than usual. And it beams her up. It's a different smile, none that you've ever seen before. It shows all of her teeth, and it makes her small dimples, the ones you've never notice that were there, appear on her cheeks. It warms you up, and it makes you feel special, like if that smile was only yours, and that it was your secret. You smile back.

"Come with me then." She suggests. "We can stop by the grocery, if you need to get anything for lunch." That's quite alright. You can do that. You can go to her apartment, meet Cat and do grocery shopping. Act as a normal human being for once.

"Okay."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

You get there quickly. It's actually not very far from your place, just a couple of blocks away. It is on a "gray ugly building", which also looks kind of old. Which also probably meant no elevator. You hoped she didn't live on the highest floor.

You two get upstairs to find a cozy apartment. It was small; a bit bigger than yours, but it was nice. The walls were painted in a very light color, apart from one that was painted in orange. You cringed at it first, but you actually liked it. There were some shelves hanging on the walls, all of them filled with books. It had a nice couch, and on top of it an orange cat. "There you are!" She exclaimed, picking him up. "I've been looking for you." He meows, and then stares at you. "Say hi to Alex. She's a friend of mine." You liked the word "friend". It was cool to be presented as a friend to someone. Even for a cat.

"Hi Cat." You mumble, petting his head. He purrs, and she smiles at you. "He's cute."

"Isn't he?" She says happily. "I'll be quick. Do you mind holding him for a second?" You shake your head and she hands him to you. Cat purrs again, snuggling on your chest. You like cats. You like her cat. "Okay, put him down." She taps on your shoulder gently. As soon as you put Cat down, he bounces to his pot, shoving his head on it. "He was hungry, I guess. Uh, we can go." You nod and let her lead you to the door. "Larry found him on a trash can once. He's been with me since then." She tells you. Right. Fucking Larry.

"Didn't he fight for Cat's custody when you split up?" You joke. She rolls her eyes but shakes her head. "It would have been funny."

"No. Cat likes living with me. And Larry wouldn't remember to feed him." She says vaguely. "He's too irresponsible sometimes. It's annoying."

"He seemed to be." You mumble more for yourself than for her. But she hears anyway.

"He's not annoying. He's a nice person. But he's just – I don't know, I guess I found out he wasn't the right person to me. We were way too different. Too bad I realized it this late."

"It could have been worse." You say, and she frowns at you. "Well, as far as I'm concerned, you could have ended up marrying him."

"I almost did." She looks to the other side, as if she didn't want to look at you. As if she was ashamed of something. "I dumped him a week before our marriage. I think that's why he keeps coming after me. I hurt him a lot, Alex." You two start to walk slower, until you stop in front of the grocery shop. "Do you think I'm a bad person?"

"No." You look for her hand, holding it tight. "I think you did what was right for both of you. If you had gotten married, you would be living a lie, and that's much worse in my point of view. It would have made you miserable." She sighs, but squeezes your hand back. "You're not a bad person, Pipes. You're just kinda slow sometimes." She laughs at that, smacking your arm.

"Thanks, Al." Her smile comes back to her face, as if it had never left it. "Come on, I'm getting hungry."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

She's too close again. She's leaning on your shoulder, trying to see what you're cooking, as you used to do with your mom when you were a kid. You turn your face, staring at her and smiling. She grins, holding onto your waist and getting on her tiptoes so she can see over your shoulder. "You said I could help!" She groans, her breath itching your neck. Again.

"You can help. Go on the fridge and get me the sauce." She rolls her eyes and you smile. You miss the contact as soon as she lets go of your waist. "Got it?" You ask when she leans in again, resting her chin on your shoulder.

"Yeah, now can I do something useful?"

"Morning, girls." You almost burn yourself. Piper jumps, and you two turn to find your mom leaning on the balcony. "It smells good. Pasta?" You nod. Piper grabs your wrist.

"Piper, that's my mom, Diane." You introduce, and slowly she lets go of your arm. "Mom, that's Piper, my friend."

"Well, nice to finally meet you, baby. Alex talks a lot about you." Your cheeks burn. Your mom smiles. Piper smiles.

"Nice to meet you too, Ms. Vause." She says politely, which makes your mom laugh.

"Ms. Vause was my mom. I'm Diane." You feel your shoulders easing. You didn't know you were so tense. "Are you staying for lunch?" She nods quietly. "Great. I don't like when Alex has to have lunch on her own."

"Wait, where are you going?" Your mom smiles apologetically at you and you feel suddenly sad. She was supposed to stay today. She wasn't supposed to go work on a Sunday.

"I have to go to work. Sorry, kid." She goes on your direction and kisses your cheek. "I'm running late. See you later. Bye, Piper."

Piper seems to have noticed a swing on your mood, because she's suddenly taking a step back and remaining in silence. It was like a cue for you to talk whenever you wanted to. "It's just that she's been working more than she used to." You mumble. "She's like, four jobs, and she's always doing extras and I feel like shit because I can't give her a better life." You don't look at her. You keep staring at the pan, making sure you don't burn anything. And that's when she comes to you. She makes you drop the spoon and turn around, facing her. She hugs you, as if she knows that's what you needed at the moment. As if she knows when and what to do at each moment, and she's not mistaken. You hug her back; you rest your nose on the top of her hair, smelling your own shampoo. Her nose is buried on your neck, and she's holding you so tight that it looks like she's afraid to let you go. And it feels good.

"You are not shitty. You're great. And it's not your fault, Al. None of this is." She whispers on your ear. It doesn't make it better, but it eases the mood. You feel a little bit better, and that's more than anyone has ever managed to do for you. "I think you're my best friend." She whispers, and you laugh at it. "I'm serious. I feel like we have this connection, and – I don't know how to explain, I just can feel it."

"I think you're my best friend too." You tell her back. "But don't tell Nichols that. She might get upset."

"I'd never even think about that. Nor I'm going to tell about our conversation. It would be bad for your reputation." You giggle, turning back to the stove. "Now can I actually help?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

She spends the day there. You two talk about the most random things you could ever think about, and it seems like you've known each other for a long time. You like that feeling. That connection, as she said before.

It's around six when she decides it's time to leave. You take her to the door, and stare at her naïve eyes once again. "I had a really great time today." She tells you, and you know it's true. It's not just something she made up. "I should go. Cat must be hungry and lonely."

"Okay." You whisper. You lean closer. She closes her eyes, as if she were expecting a kiss. But you're not brave enough to do so. You kiss her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow?" She smiles, nodding. She leaves. You close the door and rest against it. You feel like a teen. All smiling and happy over a girl. But you don't mind. You like the feeling. It's warm.


	6. Annoying Visitors

**A/N: Hey! Sorry, I meant to post sooner, but I was kind of busy. Thank y'all for the reviews, and keep telling me what you're thinking of the story:) Enjoy!**

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

You get at work earlier on Monday. Red sends you a questioning glare, but says nothing. She wouldn't have a reason to complain anyway. It's not like you were charging for extra. But you wanted to come earlier. You felt good, great actually. And plus, you wanted to see her. She was always here earlier so she would start cooking a few things. You couldn't understand why you wanted to see her so badly. It just didn't make sense. In these weeks you'd been working here, you not even once wanted to come earlier to see Nichols.

"Hey you." You turn on your heels, leaning on the small hole in the wall that you'd get the clients' orders. You had to actually crouch due to your abnormal height so you could see her. She had to do so too, since she wasn't much smaller. "You're here earlier. Did you miss me?" You smile crookedly, winking at her.

"Of course I did, kid. We haven't seen each other in what, twelve hours?" You decide to actually get in the kitchen. It was getting quite uncomfortable down there. "Hey kiddo." She turns to you, smiling. She takes a step forward, and you automatically open your arms and hug her. A little bit longer than you should.

"Actually it's been thirteen hours, but who's counting?" You laugh, letting go of the embrace. "Have you eaten?"

"Not yet." You answer, and she immediately cuts a piece of a cake for you. "You're making me fat. _And_ diabetic." She smirks and spoons you as soon as you open your mouth to talk again.

"I can live with that. Keep your mouth busy." You roll your eyes but take the plate she's offering you. "The inspectors are coming here today. Red asked me to have a quick word with you." She leans on the balcony, facing you. "Please, control your temper. They will do _literally _everything to try to piss you off, but you can't let them. Especially Pornstache."

"Who?" You frown, getting to her side and leaning on the balcony too. She lifts a hand, running her thumb across your lips. You froze. For a second, both of you do so. She stares into your eyes, her thumb still pressing your lips. You want to kiss her. You're staring at her lips, and this time you don't even care. It's not like you can keep controlling yourself around her all the time.

"You had, uh, something on your lips." She mutters, her face blushing heavily. You don't move, you don't answer. You're still staring. "I should finish cleaning up. They'll arrive around noon. _Please, _behave yourself." At that, you smirk. She smiles back, as if the tension between you two hadn't existed. "And tell Nicky to do the same. She's a hard time keeping her mouth shut around Pornstache."

"Who?"

"Oh, right. One of the inspectors. He's – well, you'll see. Try to ignore him." She suggests. "Don't let him cross the line with you." You wanted to ask what she meant by that, but you kind that had an idea. You nod and get out of the kitchen, stopping abruptly on the door, since you almost bumped on Ms. Claudette. You definitely didn't want to bump on her.

"Hey Vause!" Nicky smirked at you. "Doing some extra today?"

"Kind of." You mutter, but smile at her.

"So, how was it?" You frown and Nicky removes her earphones, leaning on the wall. "You know, was she tight? Is she a top or a bottom? Well, she _definitely _looks like a bottom, but who knows? So, how many fingers did you put –"

"Okay, stop that." You say, feeling your cheeks heating up. You don't know why, but that made you feel a little ashamed. A lot, in fact. You didn't like the way she was talking about her. "I didn't sleep with her. I mean, I did, but we only slept. She was way too drunk to even know who I was." You shrug and turn your back to Nicky. You really didn't want to discuss that right now.

"You are totally into her, aren't you?" She asks, coming closer from you again. "Shit, you like her. I'm sorry man."

"I'm not into her." You roll your eyes. "She's a friend. I like her as a friend. I just don't wanna screw things up. She's nice."

"She's kinda annoying, actually." Nicky corrects you. You ignore her, or at least try. "Hey Vause, look. I'm not very good on that, but, well, just go for it. I mean, you fucking broke the rule number one, but who knows? Maybe I'm wrong." You grimace. She was starting to give you a headache.

"Look, I appreciate that you're even getting in touch with your hetero side for me, but I'm not into her." You say firmly. You're not sure if you're trying to convince yourself or her. Maybe both. Yeah, probably both. "Piper is a friend. A good friend, by the way. I enjoy being around her just as much as I enjoy being around you. And no, I'm not trying to get into your pants. Or hers." She smirks, quirking a brow.

"Yeah, sure. I totally bite that." She laughs. The door opened, revealing a fat man and a very tall guy with a ridiculous moustache, carrying two clipboards. "Oh shit. The inspectors. Fuck, Pornstache is here." She groaned. You didn't like him quite a bit. He looked at you as you were fresh meat, and all you wanted to do was smash his face against a wall. At least now you understood why they called him Pornstache. "Behave yourself, Vause. I already have one too many troubles with that bitch." As they got closer, she smiled sarcastically, leaning on the balcony. "Inspectors Healey and Mendez! What a surprise!" You could feel the mockery on her voice. It's not like she was trying to hide it anyway.

"Good to see you." The fat man murmured, not bothering to look at her. He then lifts his eyes from his clipboard and looked directly at you. He had big blue eyes, but not nearly as beautiful as Piper's. His were cold and didn't have the same glim that hers did. That naïve and bubbly glim. "You're new here." It wasn't a question. You nod quietly, not trusting your voice to say anything. You promised you'd control your temper. "Good. You needed someone new here. What's your name?"

"Vause. Alex Vause." You answer. That sounded a bit like James Bond, but you didn't really mind.

"I'm Healey. This is Mendez." He introduced, pointing to the tall men who was still staring at your breasts. You wanted to punch him. "Start with the kitchen." Healey told Pornstache. He gave your boobs a last look before walking to the kitchen. You fought with the urge to follow him. You couldn't leave him alone around Piper. That was _definitely _not going to happen.

"Don't go in there." Nicky whispered. "You don't have a cap."

"We don't wear caps." You whispered back, but she rolled her eyes.

"Today we do. Look at your girlfriend." You turn on your heels and catch a glimpse of Piper. She was right. She _was _wearing a cap. And she looked utterly cute with that. Her eyes meet yours for a brief moment, and she winks at you, as if she wanted to say she was okay. "She looks funny with that thing. Like one of these McDonald's employees. Oh god, I need to see Ms. Claudette."

"Shut up." You hiss, punching her lightly on her shoulder. "Where is Miller?" You question. Nicky's face turns serious again. She looks away.

"Red's sent her to one of our friends. Someone that can help with her – with her _problems_." You didn't have to ask what problems were these. "The poor kid didn't even have a place to stay. She was sleeping on the streets." You nod. She didn't want to keep that conversation much longer, and honestly, neither did you. "Are we good, Mr. Healy?" She asked with the same mocking tune and smirk. He nodded, ignoring her and making his way to the kitchen. "I hate these guys."

"Seriously? I hadn't noticed." You answer sarcastically. She ignores you. "How long do they usually take?"

"Not long. They'll be out soon." She tells you, looking at the kitchen. "Where the hell is Morello? She was supposed to be here today."

"I _am _here, Nicky." The brunette hisses, making Nichols jump. You roll your eyes and smiles to a client who had just arrived. You take his order quickly and take it to the small hole on the wall. Slender fingers grab it and your hand as soon as you lay it down. You don't even have to look to know its Piper's, but you lean down anyway. She has done the same, and she's staring at you.

"Nice hat." You whisper with a smirk, and it makes her blush. It's awesome to know you still can make her embarrassed with just a few words. "You look cute with it."

"I look ridiculous." She grumbled, looking over her shoulder. "I hate that guy. He said I have nice tits." She pointed to Pornstache with her chin. For some reason, you felt anger boiling inside you. You wanted to smack him. You look down. She was still holding your hand. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, all good. You should go." You point, winking at her. You straight yourself and turn on your heels, just to find Nicky smirking at you. You automatically block whatever she's saying. You already know what it is about.

It's always about her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

He gets at the coffee shop not long after the inspectors left. He carries a bouquet of roses. Red roses, like the ones people probably buy when they don't want to take much longer to pick something for their loved ones. You were never really fond on roses. So, as soon as you see it, you grimace. And it only makes your expression worse when you see _his _face. Long nose, short black hair, protruding stomach under a shirt that was way too tight on him. You hated everything about him, and you've barely spoke to him only once.

"Hi." He calls you, waving shyly. You force yourself to smile and walk on his direction. You just want him to get the fuck out. "Is Piper here?"

"Not your lucky day, sir." You lie, leaning on the balcony. His eyes turn sad and he shrank; you almost felt bad for lying, but you couldn't. You just hated the guy. "It's Larry, right?" You ask, even though you already know the answer. He nods. "Look man, I heard her telling one of the girls she just didn't want to see you again. That she wasn't interested anymore. Maybe you should just let her go. You know, try to meet new people and stuff like that." He laughs sadly, shaking his head.

"You don't let someone like her go. I won't give up on her. We're meant to be together." He tells you, and you want to punch him on the face. She wasn't his. He just can't claim her as his like that. "I'll just leave this with you. Can you make sure she'll get it? Please?" You nod, not trusting your tongue to say anything nice to him. You don't want to anyway. "Okay, uh, _Vause. _I'll see you around." He waves, leaving the store. You roll your eyes at him and at the bouquet. You consider tossing it away, but it wouldn't be fair. Not with the flowers, of course. You hated roses, but whatever.

You ignore Nicky's gaze and walk into the kitchen, standing behind her. She's alone; the rest of the women are heaped on Red's office watching the last chapter of a novel you don't care about. It's 4 p.m., which means there's not a single person inside the café, which means it's the perfect time to watch TV or do whatever they wanted to. It was like the break time or something.

You startle her. She gasps when you touch her shoulder, making her turn around so fast she almost made you drop the bouquet. It wouldn't have been so bad after all. "You scared me." She says, a hand resting on her chest. She looks at you and at the flowers and seems to take a moment to realize that these were for her. "W-what –"

"The fiancé dropped these today." You say, handing the flowers for her. She takes it hesitantly, avoiding your eyes. "He's annoying."

"He's sweet." She corrects you. She leans on the table behind her, closing her eyes for a second. "I've been doing some thinking about him and stuff." She tells you shyly. She's still avoiding your eyes. "Maybe it's not such a bad idea to marry him." Ouch. It made your heart clench, it made you feel like someone dropped an anvil on top of your chest.

"You said you don't love him the way you were supposed to." You clench your teeth. It hurts. It wasn't supposed to, but it still does.

"I can learn how to." She stops for a second, holding the bouquet tighter. "He's a good friend."

"No, you _can't_." You hiss. She finally looks at you. You're ashamed of yourself. Your arms are crossed; you're biting your lower lip. You're jealous, you're scared. And you didn't plan at all your next moves.

You take a step closer and you cup her cheeks. You stare at her for a brief moment before leaning in and crashing your lips together. It's sweet and it's soft. She's kissing you back. You take a second to realize she's wrapped her arms around your neck and pulled you closer, your bodies closer than ever. Her tongue is entering on your mouth, and you moan when it does so. It's hot, and at the same time it's sweet. It's just like her.

You're the first one to pull away. You rest your forehead on hers, and she caresses your cheek. Your glasses are kind that on the way, so you remove them. You pull her closer by her waist. She's still holding on your neck. None of you talk; you actually don't know what to say. You don't even know what you're feeling. It's messed up, you're messed up, _she _is messed up. But she's yours. You're claiming her yours. She was yours since the moment she first kissed you, and she can't be with anyone else. You don't want her to be with anyone else.

You kiss her again. It's only a peck, like your first kiss, but it feels good. It feels good because she doesn't push you away. Her lips don't move against yours; they move along yours. It feels good because you can do so. "I lied. About that night." You whisper, running your hand through her blonde hair. Her blue eyes meet yours, and you can see she's smiling. Smirking, actually. "You kissed me. But – but you already know so, don't you?" It's not really a question. You can tell by the glim in her eyes.

"I do." She whispers back, pressing her lips on your chin. "I remember." You roll your eyes and she giggles. This time, she starts the kiss. And it's even better than the firsts ones. It makes you feel like there's nothing else on the room, no one else at the café. Except for Nicky's annoying yell.

"I fucking _knew _it!"


	7. Mine

**A/N: Hey! Sorry for the wait! I've been kinda busy lately. So, this is basically when I'm starting to fuck things up. Slowly, making you think everything is just fine and then BAM! But you'll have to wait for it. And why am I doing that? Because I'm a horrible, heartless, cruel person. And thank you all for the reviews:)**

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

You don't really talk about what happened. As soon as the show was finished, everyone returned to their jobs, like nothing had happened. You do so too. You don't answer any of Nicky's questions, not only because you didn't want to, but because you didn't know. And you were good with not knowing for a while.

When your shift is finished, she walks you home. Neither of you talk much, but it doesn't make it an uncomfortable silence. It was nice. Your fingers brushing slightly; shy smiles on your lips. You say goodbye, and that's when she leans in to kiss you. You immediately cup her cheeks to bring her closer, and so does she. You feel the corners of her mouth slowly turning into a smile as you two kissed. You don't realize at first, but yours does the same. She breaks the kiss but gives you one last quick peck before saying goodbye. She waits until you get into the building before leaving. You know so because you secretly watched her through the small crack on the door.

But now you don't know what to do. You are there, putting your bag on your locker and fixing your clothes. Nicky's day off was today and the new kid wouldn't be around for a few days, so it was pretty much just you and Morello. That wouldn't be fun at all. Not that you didn't like Lorna, she was nice. Always cheering people up, always seeing the bright side. The only thing that bothered you so much was her so called fiancé. The one who apparently didn't exist.

Lorna Morello was a good person. Christopher, on the other hand, probably wasn't.

"Morning."

You turn on your heels, meeting the sweet pair of blue eyes right in front of you. A smile crack on your lips. She's leaning on the wall, holding two cups of coffee that were not from this café, but probably from Starbucks or something like that. You prayed that Red wouldn't see these. "Hey kid." You wait until she gets closer, handing you one of the cups. "That's for me? Nice. I needed some."

"Black with no sugar." You take a sip of it, moaning in approval. "Have you eaten?" You nod slowly, as she goes to your side, mirroring your moves. "Your hair looks nice. Did you change it?"

"Yeah, I've decided that it was time to cut these highlights off." You answer, looking at her. She was looking at you as if you were the most interesting human being on earth, her big blue eyes looking focused at you. "Why are you wearing this? Again?" You point to the cap on her head, a smirk coming across your lips. "Did Red decide it was a nice idea to make you kids wear it now?" She groaned, removing the orange cap from her head and pouting.

"They'll come back today. They always do." She answers with a pout. "I look ridiculous on that."

"No, you don't." You take another sip of your coffee, looking away. You can feel her eyes on you, but you don't look at her. For some reason, you don't trust yourself to do so. "You look beautiful. I mean it, Pipes." Her face gets red and a shy smile appears on her face. "Hey, your day off is tomorrow, right?" She nods, and a small smile cracks onto your lips. "Cool. Do you have anything planned for tonight? I was thinking about going out for some drinks, but I don't really have company. Do you happen to be interested?"

She quirks a brow, smiling crookedly at you. "Are you asking me out?" You gulp. Of course you were. But you couldn't find the guts to tell her so. "That's kind of sweet. What time should we meet?"

"I'll be in front of your place at seven." You finish your coffee, tossing the cup away. "Thanks for the coffee, Pipes. I'll see you."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

You're nervous. You're already in front of her place, waiting for her to come downstairs. Shit, that doesn't necessarily have to mean anything. You can be just her friend taking her out for drinking. But no, you can't. At least not when drinking is involved. You'll have to make sure you don't drink way too much this time.

And then she's suddenly there. She wraps an arm around your waist, smiling sweetly at you. You smile back; trying hard not to take a step closer and close the gap between your lips. You want to. You do, you really do. But you won't, even though she probably wouldn't mid. You have to be sure she wants this. But first, you should find out what "this" means.

"You look pretty." You tell her, and it makes her blush. You still have fun when you do that. You can't help yourself. "Are we good to go?" She nods, gripping your waist tighter. You weren't counting on that. She smirks at you, like if she meant to say something else, but she just allows you to guide her to outside the building, where a cab was already waiting. And then it suddenly hits you. You two are on a date. You've asked her out. You are taking her out.

"I'm cold." She mutters, getting even closer than she already was to you. "Do you mind -?" You shake your head, a small smile appearing on your lips. You wrap an arm around her and she quickly snuggles closer to you. She's a little bit cold, but getting this close to her is warm. You just can't tell why.

A Billy Joel's song is playing on the cab. He's not your favorite artist ever, but you still like him. You start humming the song quietly, your arm still wrapped around her. You can't remember the name of the song. It's probably _Vienna. _You don't recall the lyrics well either, but you try to sing along anyway. It doesn't really work out. When you look down, Piper is grinning at you. "What?" You ask, quirking a brow. "Am I that bad of a singer?"

"Just a little bit." She says, stiffing a laugh. "I never pegged you as a Billy Joel's fan. I thought you liked, I don't know, Nirvana maybe?" She's biting her lower lip, looking inside your eyes.

"I _do _like Nirvana." You say with a shrug. "I mean, when I was younger my mom would play it for me like it was some kind of a lullaby." She grins, showing her perfect teeth and making the small dimples on her cheeks appear. "I like Billy Joel. The lyrics are good." She hums in agreement, stiffing closer to you. "What kind of music do you like? No, wait, let me guess. Mozart?"

"The Beatles?" She answers, and you laugh.

"Are you telling me this or asking me this?" She shrugs, rolling her eyes at you. "_The Beatles _is like the first band everyone answers. Why so?"

"Probably because everyone likes it." She says. "I mean, it's rock. Everyone likes rock. You like rock."

"Was that a try to impress me?" You smirk, making her blush. "I'm sorry then, but I'm not quite fond on them." She looks at you in disbelief, but you don't really care. It's not like she's the first person to look at you like that when you say you don't like _The Beatles._ "I find it a bit too calm. But I'm serious. What kind of music do _you _like?"

"Fine." She groans. "I _do _like classical music. But I find Beethoven better than Mozart, if you really want to know." You giggle, and the cab slowly starts to stop. "Do you think I'm boring now?"

"Not at all. But I'm not saying I'm not going to have fun with all that new information." You kiss her cheek quickly. You don't even know why you did that. It just felt right. And apparently it was, because she's blushing heavily and smiling like an idiot. You can't help but feel proud of yourself while you pay the driver. She's just too fucking cute.

You guide her to the club, holding her hand. The owner is a friend of your mom's, so you two get inside without any problems. She's suddenly holding onto your waist again. With both hands this time, walking really close to you. You can feel her breath on your neck. It's making you nervous.

You're almost at the bar when her grip gets so tight that you're unable to walk. You turn around, facing her. She's staring. And suddenly, her mouth is pressed on yours. There's nothing sweet about this kiss. She's holding you tight, stroking your tongue with hers. You grip her hair, still dizzy from the sudden kiss. And then she breaks it. Her lips go straight to your neck, her tongue and teeth working on your sensitive spot, making you moan. You're pretty sure there's a mark there now. She pulls away, her heart beating faster. She leans in, resting her forehead on yours. You kiss her again. "What was that for?" You ask, running your fingers through her hair.

"These girls were staring." She answers. You smirk, but she shrugs. "I just wanted to make sure they knew you're here with me. You know, just in case."

You don't argue. You don't really mind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

You're drunk. You know you said you'd control yourself, but you kind that lost it. You drank one too many shots and something else you can't really remember what it was, but it doesn't really matter. Shit, not even your thoughts are making sense right now. The only thing that you know for sure is that you are kissing Piper sloppily in the middle of the dance floor. You marked her neck too; it wasn't fair she could mark her spot and you couldn't. Okay, _maybe _you exaggerated by giving her four hickeys, but who cares? She was there with you after all. She was yours.

"I want to get out of here." She said on your ear. You nodded and she bit your ear lobe. "To my place." It wasn't a question, it wasn't a request. She took you by the hand, pulling you away from the crowd. You two walked out from the club to the subway station, giggling like two idiots. You're not sure how you managed to get in there, just that now you two were already sitting on a bench, making out while going to Piper's place. She was sitting on your lap, her knee making pressure on the exact spot. You moaned on her mouth. You're almost sure you'd never been so turned on in your whole life. "You're good at this." She mutters on your ear, making you shiver. "Come on." You hadn't even realized you were already there. She holds onto your hands and you two leave the subway station. She's walking fast, and now you two went back to giggling like two idiots.

"You're going too fast." You say, wrapping an arm around her. She turns around, crashing her mouth on yours. She wraps her arms around your neck and for a brief moment you consider lifting her up, but thankfully your mind isn't so screwed up to the point that you can't recognize you're drunk as shit. She pulls back and smirks at you, guiding you to her building. The heat in your body is getting too uncomfortable now; you need her. You two get upstairs between tripping and slipping on the stairs. She struggles to open the door, but she manages to do so. You shut it as soon as you get in and grab her waist, pressing her against the wall. She bites your neck and scratches your back. You attack her jaw, marking it. You don't ask if she's sure if that's what she wants, you don't say a word. You're too drunk. You don't care. You just want to feel her completely.

And you do so.


End file.
